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Author
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Comment
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saralehsarai
Unregistered User
(4/21/03 3:01 pm)
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MOTHERINLAW
Hello...
I am a student of folklore at U.C. Berkeley -- I am writing a paper
on the role of the stepmother and/or the mother-in-law in folktales...
do any of you have a good tale to recommend? (i am more than willing
to take a psychoanalytic approach to the tale.............. ) thanks
for your time and help.
sarah
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Kevin
Smith
Registered User
(4/23/03 1:27 am)
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The Maiden without Hands or the Juniper Tree
I'm assuming you don't want to go the obvious Hansel and Gretel or Cinderella route, so I'd go for either the Maiden without Hands (the version where the devil intercepts messages between the maiden and her husband and her stepmother is about to burn her for eating her own babies) or the Juniper Tree.
They're both from the brothers Grimm, but a great deal of the "step"mother tales are, because in the editing process the Grimms changed examples of abuse by the mother to abuse by the stepmother (a lot more palatable).
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Midori
Unregistered User
(4/23/03 2:51 am)
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Warner
You might find it useful to look at a wonderful critical
work by Marina Warner called "From the Beast to the Blonde." Warner discusses many of the stock characters of the folktale--including the "step-mother" and she has quite a few really interesting narratives.
It occurs to me that there is an ambiguity about the role of step-mother and surrogate mother--cinderella has both operating on her after all-- one determined to shun her, the other giving her the tools to go forward. Off hand, I'd say there are probably quite a few narratives where the single role of the mother is split between two characters--representing the dual possibility of the mother's help. Just a thought....
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Jess
Unregistered User
(4/23/03 8:52 pm)
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Probably obvious
Have you looked at the earlier versions of Sleeping Beauty where the mother in law is an ogress or at least very evil and tries to canabilize her daughter in law and grandchildren?
There is also interesting premarital treatment in a lot of tales - the potential bride being viewed with skepticism.
In many Eastern cultures, the bride is taken away to live with the husband, and the wedding is often treated solemnly, as in a funeral. You can see this sadness reflected in some of these tales, and when you view the mother-in-law, she can be either sympathetic - an alternate mother figure or evil. I am trying to think of some of these right away. I may have to go digging.
Jess
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(4/25/03 10:01 am)
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stepmoms etc.
My daughter Heidi and I have a whole section in MIRROR, MIRROR: 40 FOLKTALES FOR MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS TO SHARE on step and foster mothers.
Jane
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Rosemary
Lake
Registered User
(4/26/03 9:01 pm)
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evil inlaws
Have you looked at the earlier versions of Sleeping Beauty where
the mother in law is an ogress or at least very evil and tries to
canabilize her daughter in law and grandchildren?
Aren't there also evil female in-laws in the story about the brother turned into a fawn, and the sister who under a vow of silence wove jackets for her brothers who were ravens?
Rosemary
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